Today we move into what is probably going to be a familiar portion of Scripture to a lot of you. It is the chapter on love. Paul has spent a lot of time speaking about the gifts of the Spirit, but no amount of gifts matters if we don't love others. In our world today we are often taught that we are nothing if we are not loved by someone else. We've accepted the lie that we must be in a romantic relationship at all times in order to feel worthy. We've fallen for the fallacy that we are nobodies if we are not popular and admired. But our worth comes from being loved by Christ, and we honor Him by loving others in the way He loves us. Christ died for us while we were still "nobodies" in order to make us "somebodies". It's wonderful to be gifted and talented, but we can't honor the Lord or help anyone around us by using our gifts and talents without love in our hearts.
"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." (1 Corinthians 13:1) Paul states, "Words without love are just words. If I speak words without love, my words are no more helpful than if I were standing here beating a gong."
"If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:2) He reminds his readers, "You have been bragging about your gifts. You have been valuing some gifts over others. But even if you could foretell every event of the future, and even if you understood everything that has happened since the beginning of time, and even if your faith was so great that you could simply speak the word and obtain the desires of your hearts---how do these things honor the Lord or help your fellow man if you don't have love?"
"If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:3) There are a lot of reasons why a non-Christian might perform good deeds, or why a Christian who is not particularly loving might perform good deeds. Many people just naturally feel compassion for others, so they may simply feel compelled by their consciences to help those in need. Or they may do it because it makes them feel better about themselves. They may do it because they enjoy the attention and admiration it gains them. They may do it thinking they can offset the sin in their lives by trying to make their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds. There are dozens of motives a person may have for busying himself with good works, but Paul says unless the motive is love it does not count for anything.
Why is love so important? Let's look at what love is (and what love is not) to find out: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) There will come a day when the gifts of the Spirit will no longer be needed. For example, when a person dies he can no longer exercise his gifts. For another example, when we are in heaven with Christ we will not need to exercise our gifts, for there will be no lost people there who need to be brought to Christ. For yet another example, when at last Christ reigns as King of kings over the whole earth, there will be no more need for the gifts of prophecy (for all prophecy will have been fulfilled) or the gifts of healing (illness and death will no longer exist) or the gifts of preaching or teaching (because all the inhabitants of the earth will be those who already belong to Christ). But what does endure for eternity? Love!
"Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." (1 Corinthians 13:8-12) When we were children we played with toys because they were important for our physical and mental development. But when we became adults we put our Barbies and GI Joes away and took on our adult duties. Right now the gifts of the Spirit are important in this world to bring lost people to Christ and to encourage those who are already in Christ. In that sense we are still in an infancy of sorts. But when we see Christ face to face we will no longer need to exercise these gifts, for we will be in the presence of the One who fulfills all things. In that sense we will be adults in the faith in a way we cannot now be. Someday we will be face to face with the Giver of gifts, and then we will no longer need to preach the gospel or prophesy about the future or lay hands on the sick to pray for their healing. We won't need the gifts of the Spirit to minister to others because no one will need to be ministered to. Love will outlast everything else because love is more important than everything else. Christ died for us because of love, and this one act of His matters more than all the sermons He preached and all the sicknesses He healed and all the resurrections He performed. Therefore our love for Christ and for our fellow man, and the good deeds we perform because of this love, means more than anything else we could ever do.
All of the gifts of the Spirit are good, but the gift of love outweighs them all. "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13) It was love that led Christ to the cross and it was love that held Him there until our redemption was accomplished. Nothing else would have compelled Him to offer Himself in this way. We sacrifice in a lot of ways for those we love, don't we? This is why love is the most important gift. Without it we would have no desire to minister to others. Without it we could not win anyone to the One who demonstrated the greatest love of all.
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